Love at the end of the world
by You-drive-me-nuts-miller
Summary: Bethyl one shots. Angst, smuff, with a little bit of hope...


_**My first ever try at a Bethyl fic... I would love any feedback! J x**_

They left the camp at dawn, heading in the direction of a small town they has seen marked on a map that Carol had found the previous day. It was a five mile journey by road; Rick had decided they should make the journey on foot so as to save what little gas they had in their vehicles.

They'd walked quietly, all still bone tired from a week of sleeping rough and still sporting wounds from their latest skirmish. Maggie and Glenn had volunteered to do the run first and walked ahead, occasionally holding hands or talking in hushed tones. Behind them, Michonne followed with Daryl by her side, the two in a comfortable silence as they strode along the road which was slowly being reclaimed by nature.

At the back of the group, Beth kept her distance, her hands clinging the to straps of her backpack as she watched those ahead of her.

He hadn't spoken to her that morning. Their eyes had met over the dying embers of the fire when Maggie had shaken them awake. She thought maybe he had smiled; it was dark and she wasn't sure.

They hadn't had a moment alone in days. The last chance had been when they had gone together on a run looking for gas. It had ended with them half naked, sweaty and writhing in the back of a pick up truck. A fleeting moment, but she had lived on it since then. Remembering how it felt when he kissed her, the sensation of fingers pressing into skin, of urgent, hurried love that said more than words ever could.

But she couldn't shake the disappointment that he hadn't even tried to walk with her this morning. Especially since… she took a breath and shook her head.

Maybe he was still a little angry with her.

He had wanted to tell them.

"I'm sick of sneakin' around," he'd whispered in between kisses that night a week earlier. They had snuck off into the woods as the others made camp, "Let's just tell them. It'll be easier."

He'd cradled her face in his hands, but her body had froze and he'd stepped back.

"Are you ashamed of me?" he hissed, his face close but the loving expression replaced with one of pain.

"No, no, of course not I just-"

The words died in her mouth. She had no excuse, not one that made sense anyway.

Reaching up, she wrapped her fingers in the collar of his shirt. "If we tell them, it will be complicated. Life's hard enough as it is. Can we just enjoy this, a little while longer?"

Her voice rose as she searched his face. Slowly, he had nodded, but she saw the disappointment he was trying to hide. Not knowing what else to do, she pulled him close and then down towards the downy forest floor and made love to him.

[Because she knew she loved him already.]

He hadn't mentioned it since. In fact, he had barely sought out her company - it was she who had suggested the gas run.

From time to time she'd caught him looking her way, eyeing her curiously. But he had kept his distance and she tried not to feel hurt, tried not to take it too hard-

[Though a little voice inside had said that she was a silly little girl and now he had realised that and the age gap was too big and it was all over before it had even really begun-]

The group ahead had stopped. Glenn was pointing to something in the distance - a group of white buildings with faded signs that would have once been brightly coloured. A strip mall.

They upped they pace and reached them ten minutes later. Fanning out, they had checked the perimeter, finding a small supermarket, drug store and hair salon. All had shattered windows and signs of looting but the group decided to split up and see what, if anything, was left.

"Ten minutes, back here," Glenn had said as he, Michonne and Daryl had compared watches. Beth headed towards the drug store, drawing her knife as she pushed open the door. It was dark inside, so she dug her flashlight from her backpack. Using her hilt of her knife, she banged on the cash desk, holding her breath as she waited for a response. It was all quiet and she let out a small sigh of relief.

She looked behind her. The others had moved towards the market. A little disappointment stung. He still was avoiding her.

She walked further into the store. Beneath her feet, broken glass crunched and she picked her way between the aisles, strewn as they were with items hastily grabbed from the shelves.

The pharmacy section was near the back. She hopped over the counter and searched though the few remaining boxes. One name she recognised as a painkiller and another as an antibiotic. She stuffed them in her bag.

Walking back down another aisle, her flashlight caught sight of a paper sign that read, 'FAMILY PLANNING'. This was what she was really looking for.

Yesterday Maggie had told her the date. She had one of those small, universal diaries that she had managed to keep hold of, despite everything. It helped keep a little bit of normality, or at least the semblance of one, by letting them remember birthdays and holidays, even if they weren't exactly celebrated.

It was a week until their father's birthday, she had said. Beth and just nodded and smiled, until a queer thought had taken hold. If it was already October, then that meant… It meant…

Well, it meant she was late.

Looking over the shelves, she felt like a little girl playing adult. She wasn't really sure what she was looking for and these shelves were unsurprisingly still well stocked. Birth control and pregnancy tests weren't the priority when it had all happened.

It was stress, she told herself as she hastily grabbed a couple of small cardboard boxes with blue writing and smiling women on the front. They and been careful - he'd insisted. Well, most of the time anyway.

They were still in her hand as she turned to the front of the store, her brow furrowed as she watched where she stepped, crying out in surprise as she walked into something warm and hard.

"Jesus Christ!" She stepped back, her hand going to her knife, the boxes dropping on the floor as she lifted her flashlight to the face of the intruder. "Daryl," she sighed, her heart racing, the circle of light juddering around his face.

He put his hand around her wrist and lowered it. "Just checking up on you. You find much?"

Smarting a little from his cool air, she replied, "Some meds, not much left-"

As she spoke he bent down and picked up the forgotten cardboard boxes. She opened her mouth to speak as he studied them, taking a few seconds to digest their contents before looking back at her.

"What's this? Are these for Maggie?"

Everyone knew Maggie and Glenn wanted a child, even if most people thought they were a little crazy.

Beth looked down and shook her head.

There was a silent moment.

"You mean you- me - we…"

Reaching out she took the boxes from him and slid her back pack down her arm to stash them away.

"Maybe."

Silence again. She shifted awkwardly. He was blocking the exit and she was starting to feel a little lightheaded.

"Beth, I-"

"Look," she snapped, meeting his eyes, this time hers blazing - not with anger, but with pain. "This is not your problem. It's mine. You've made it perfectly clear what you think of me-"

"Hold on now," he interjected, running one palm down her bare arm, looking at her softly, like he used to, "What do you mean 'what I think of you'?"

She licked her lips and sighed, her thumbs sliding into her belt loops as she sought a way to occupy her hands. "That I'm just this stupid kid and I'm too young and-"

"Hey," he grunted, shaking her a little and then placing his other hand on her shoulder. "You need to stop talking so much crap. That's the last thing I would think about you."

There was a softness to his voice. She felt naive and her cheeks flushed.

"But you have been avoiding me-"

"I was mad, kinda. Upset, you know. I thought you were ashamed of me, not wantin' the others to know about us."

Her heart melted a little at the tinge of vulnerability in his words. It was a side to him he only showed her, so far as she knew. Sometimes she forgot that, he did such a good job of hiding behind his tough facade.

"That's not true," she whispered, leaning closer.

He cradled her against his chest. It was so quiet she could hear his heart beating.

"I'm sorry," she murmured into his chest. "I'm not ashamed of you. I lo- I care about you. A lot."

He was sweet and didn't pursue her unfinished words, instead he pressed a kiss to her forehead and held her tighter. "And I'm sorry for being an ass. I can wait til you are ready," he promised. "Ive been wanting so say so for days, damn pride gettin' in my way."

Smiling against his chest, she felt a little relief, though she knew they only had a few more minutes before they and to regroup.

"I guess we're both of us the stubborn type," she admitted, enjoying his warm embrace, having missed it for too long.

"Can I be with you, when you, you know-"

"Oh," she softly gasped, "Um, yeah, of course, I mean, it's probably nothing-"

"Probably nothing…" he echoed, making no move to let her go, and so they remained until they heard Maggie calling their names.

/

It was nothing, a false alarm. It certainly made them more careful.

They told the others a few weeks later, around the campfire, everyone sharing a beer from the case they had miraculously found in the pantry of an old shack.

Before the words had even left her mouth she noticed the smiles of the group. Small smiles that said they had known the whole time.

Feeling a little foolish, she had curled closer to him, resting her head in the crook of his arm and her fingers toying with the edge of his vest.

Maybe life would never be like it was before, but she was beginning to realise that that didn't meant that life could not be good. Just in a different way than she had ever imagined.


End file.
